Safety ski binding



June 2, 1970 s. WEISS SAFETY SKI BINDING Filed March 11', 1968 United States Patent ()1 ice 3,515,402 Patented June 2, 1970 US. Cl. 28011.35 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A safety ski binding comprises a toe holder and a heel holder for engaging the boot. One of said boot end holders is movable to a release position in response to an excessive twisting force which is transverse to the longitudinal direction of the ski. The binding comprises also a sole-bearing plate which extends parallel to'the surface of the ski and is disposed close to that boot end holder which isresponsive to twisting forces. The sole-bearing plate is movably held to the surface of the ski. The solebearing plate is held by at least one resilient retaining means with freedom of movement in its main plane, extendingparallel to the surface of the ski. Said freedom of movement is suflicient to permit said sole-bearing plate to follow a movement of the sole of the boot relative to the ski until the boot is released by the respective boot end holder. The sole-bearing plate is provided on its side facing the'surface of the ski with a recess for receiving the resilient retaining means and the latter are secured to the ski at a central point.

This invention relates to safety ski bindings which comprise a toe holder and a heel holder for engaging the skiing boot and in which one of said boot end holders is movable to a release position in response to an excessive twisting force which is transverse to the longitudinal direction of the ski, said binding, also comprising a sole-bearing plate which extends parallel to the surface of the ski and disposed close to the boot end holder which is responsive to the twisting forces. The sole-bearing plate is held by at least one resilient retaining means so as to be movable in its main plane, extending parallel to the surface of the ski and within a range which is sufficient to permit said sole-bearing plate to follow a movement of the sole of the boot relative to the ski until the boot is released by. the respective boot end holder. Such a safety ski binding has been disclosed in a prior application.

According to a proposal of that prior application, the resilient retaining means which automatically returns the sole-bearing plate to its centered position after every fall suitably extends from the sole-bearing plate toward the tip and rear end of the ski and is secured to the boot end holders of the binding, in such a manner that the resilient retaining means is simply hooked over suitable parts of the boot end holders. Whereas this design en ables a simple and quick mounting and removal of the sole-bearing plate because its connection to the other parts of the binding can easily be detached, the said design often affords only inadequate protection against a loss or theft of the sole-bearing plate.

In order to eliminate this disadvantage in a simple manner without adversely affecting the good function of the sole-bearing plate, it is proposed according to the invention to provide the sole-bearing plate on its side facing the surface of the ski with a recess for receiving the resilient retaining means and to secure the latter to the ski at a central point.

To ensure a satisfactory automatic return movement of the sole-bearing plate to its centered position after each fall, the sole-bearing plate is preferably connected to the resilient retaining means at least at three points. The sole-bearing plate may be provided with pins for the connection to the resilient retaining means. These pins for holding the resilient retaining means in position may be undercut at least on that side which faces the outer edge of the sole-bearing plate.

A holding plate which is preferably screw-connected to the ski may be provided to secure the resilient retaining means to the ski. Just as the sole-bearing plate, the holding plate may also be provided with pins for connection to the resilient retaining means and these pins may also be undercut at least on their side which faces the center of the mounting plate to ensure that the resilient retaining means will be held in position.

The invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a bottom view showing a sole-bearing plate according to the invention and a resilient retaining means in their normal position relative to each other.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view which is similar to FIG. 1 but shows the parts after a relative displacement.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line III-III of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 is a top plan view showing the sole-bearing plate mounted on the ski.

The safety ski binding to which the present invention relates consists of a toe holder and a heel holder for engaging the skiing boot, and of a sole-bearing plate 20. The toe and heel holders may consist of any desired one of the large number of suitable devices which are on the market. For this reason these devices will not be described in detail. Only a toe holder 21 is indicated with dash-dot lines in FIG. 1. This toe holder is a so-called safety toe iron, which releases the tip of the boot in response to excessive twisting forces. Such forces may cause the toe iron to perform a pivotal movement about its axis 22. For this reason, the sole-bearing plate is disposed near the toe holder.

According to the main feature of the present invention, the sole-bearing plate 20' shown on the drawing is provided with a recess 24 on the side which contacts the ski 23. This recess serves to receive a resilient retaining means 25, which consists in the present case of an endless rubber strip. The rubber strip 25 is connected to the ski 23 by a holding plate 26, which is held to the ski in the present case by a screw 27 (see FIG. 4). To enable a screwing of the screw into the ski, the sole bearing plate 20 has a central hole 28, through which the head of the screw can be passed.

In the embodiment shown by way of example, the solebearing plate is connected to the endless rubber strip 25 at four points. To this end, the recess 24 has four radial pockets 29, which extend at right angles to each other. Each pocket 29 contains a pin 30, which holds a loop of the rubber strip 25. The holding plate 26 has also a recess on the side facing the surface of the ski. The recess in the holding plate serves to receive the inner loops of the rubber strip 25. In analogy to the connection of the rubber strip to the sole-bearing plate, the holding plate 26 is also provided with four pins 31, to which the rubber strip is connected. To avoid an undesired detaching of the rubber strip 25 from the sole-bearing plate 20 or the holding plate 26, the pins 30 and 31 are undercut in that portion which is embraced by a loop of the rubber strip. This is apparent from FIGS. 1 to 3.

The recess 24 is so large as to permit of a movement of the sole-bearing plate 20 on the surface of the ski in all directions to such an extent that the sole-bearing plate can follow a relative movement of the sole of the boot relative to the ski until the boot is released by the safety toe iron. When the boot has been released, the sole-bearing plate is automatically returned to its normal position, shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. FIG. 2 shows the sole-bearing plate 20 and the holding plate 26 which have been displaced relative to each other. In this position, that loop of the rubber strip 25 which has been applied around the lower pin 30 in the drawing is under a higher tension than the other loops so that said loop tends to return the sole-bearing plate to its normal position if the holding plate is secured to the ski.

What is claimed is:

1. In a safety ski binding including a toe holder and a heel holder for engaging the skiing boot and in which one of said boot end holders is movable to a release position in response to an excessive twisting force which is transverse to the longitudinal direction of the ski, said binding also comprising a sole-bearing plate which extends parallel to the surface of the ski and is disposed close to that boot end holder which is responsive to the twisting forces, at least one resilient retaining means holding the sole-bearing plate so as to be movable in its main plane extending parallel to the surface of the ski and within a range which is sufficient to permit said sole-bearing plate to follow a movement of the sole of the boot relative to the ski until the boot is released by the respective boot end holder, the improvement comprising the sole-bearing plate being provided on its side facing the surface of the ski with a recess, and the resilient retaining means being secured to the sole-bearing plate within the recess and being secured to the ski at a point normally central of the recess.

4 vided with pins for the connection to the resilient retaining means.

4. In a safety ski binding according to claim 3, the further improvement of the pins for holding the resilient retaining means in position being undercut at least on that side which faces the outer rim of the sole-bearing plate.

5. In a safety ski binding according to claim 1, the further improvement of said resilient retaining means including a holding plate adapted to be screw-connected to the ski.

6. In a safety ski binding according to claim 5, the further improvement of the holding plate having pins associated therewith for connection to the resilient element of the resilient retaining means.

7. In a safety ski binding according to claim 6, the further improvement of the pins for holding the resilient element of the resilient retaining means being undercut at least on that side which faces the center of the holding plate.

8. In a safety ski binding according to claim 1, the further improvement of the resilient retaining means including an endless strip of elastic material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,676,813 4/1954 Beyl 280-1135 2,745,672 5/1956 Meier 280-1135 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,157,157 12/1957 France.

1,179,625 12/ 1958 France.

1,358,624 3/1964 France.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner M. L. SMITH, Assistant Examiner 

